This invention relates to a double cassette tape player which is employed in a telephone answering device or the like and alternately operates a pair of cassette tapes loaded thereon, and more particularly to a magnetic head adjusting device for a double cassette tape player wherein a common magnetic head can be moved alternately to one or the other of a pair of cassette loading stations and besides the azimuth adjustment of the magnetic head can be made individually at each of the cassette loading stations.
In a tape player of the double cassette type which is generally used for a telephone answering device or the like, a pair of cassette tapes loaded are driven alternately. This is because one of the cassette tapes is provided for playback of the outgoing announcement and the other is provided for recording and playback of the incoming messages.
FIG. 10 shows a drive unit of an examplary one of such double cassette tape players for use with a telephone answering device.
The double cassette tape player shown in FIG. 10 utilizes a pair of cassette halves Ca, Cb of the micro size. The two cassette halves Ca, Cb are loaded on spindles Ra, Rb at a pair of cassette loading stations located on a chassis 1. The cassette loading stations has a pair of capstans Ka, Kb and a pair of pinch rollers Pa, Pb located therein. A pair of magnetic heads denoted at Ha and Hb are also provided separately for the individual cassette loading stations.
As described just above, the drive unit of the double cassette tape player includes two magnetic heads one for each of the cassette loading stations. Where such a double cassette tape player is used for a telephone answering device, the two cassette loading stations are driven not simultaneously but alternately, and generally the double cassette tape player includes only one amplifier. Accordingly, in order to attain good balancing of volumes of playback sounds of the two cassette halves loaded, the two magnetic heads Ha, Hb must be selected as parts upon production such that they may have a minimum difference in characteristics. Therefore, it is a drawback that operation of selecting magnetic heads is complicated and assembling and adjusting operation is difficult. Besides, provision of two magnetic heads for a drive unit of a single tape player requires an increased number of parts and a high production cost accordingly.
Such disadvantages as described above which are derived from provision of two magnetic heads may be eliminated by an alternative construction wherein a single magnetic head is moved alternately to one or the other of two cassette loading stations so as to use the single magnetic head commonly for a pair of cassette halves. However, where two cassette loading stations are provided, the cassette halves loaded at the two cassette loading stations are apt to cause variations in vertical positions thereof or in inclination of tapes being fed. Therefore, where a single magnetic head is moved for common use for two cassette halves, if the magnetic head is adjusted with respect to the tape position and the tape feeding angle of one of the cassette halves, the gap position of the core of the magnetic head might not be compatible, when the magnetic head is moved to the other cassette half, with the feeding condition of the other tape. In this manner, where a common magnetic head is used, azimuth adjustment cannot be effected for individual cassette halves.